"This is best for our family."

Published: Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 03:23 PM.

NICEVILLE — When it came time to make a decision on where he'd coach next year, Steve Forbes weighed all the options.

He thought about his family. He thought about his players. He thought about his coaching staff. No stone was left unturned. This was not a decision Forbes took lightly.

While many fans assumed Forbes would parlay back-to-back NJCAA national title trips into a bigger job, a better job, he never looked at Niceville as a means to a Division 1 end. And ultimately, the decision to leave NWF State for an assistant coaching job at Wichita State was not easy.

“I didn't come here thinking a year from now or two years from now or three years from now I'd be back in Division 1,” said Forbes, who in joining the coaching staff at Wichita State University will now be within driving distance of his retired parents. “I knew if the right opportunity presented itself, I'd have to make a tough decision.”

The Shockers, of course, presented that tough decision, which ultimately he couldn't turn down. A Final Four participant last year, Greg Marshall's staff was the right opportunity.

“It was just a great fit for me and getting a chance to work for one of the best coaches in college basketball for a program that just went to the Final Four, that's a hard thing to turn down."

Forbes, who led the Raiders to a 62-6 record and two Panhandle Conference championships during his two-year tenure in Niceville, announced Monday that after a couple of weeks of ongoing conversation with Marshall, he had accepted an assistant coaching role with the Shockers. Forbes, who will head to Wichita State Thursday to make it official, will immediately hit the recruiting trail next week.

“Our college is extremely happy for Steve and his family,” NWF State Athletic Director Ramsey Ross said. “There’s no doubt Steve belongs in Division 1 and Wichita State is getting a tremendous coach and an even better person.”

More than getting back to the Division 1 ranks, Forbes said the decision hinged on both the coaching staff at Wichita State along with the needs of his family.

“I also have a very close and personal relationship with Chris Jans, who is the associate head coach. We grew up together and then there’s (assistant coach) Greg Heiar, who like us is from Iowa. Chris and Greg also used to be head coaches at Chipola, so we just have a long, personal relationship. So through that two-week time frame in talking about it and going back and forth, my wife and I came to the conclusion that this is best for our family.”

Even so, that didn't make breaking the news to his players, who Forbes gathered around 12:45 p.m. Monday, any easier.

“I think they're a little shell-shocked,” Forbes said. “They obviously didn't see this coming. I've talked to them as a team, but I've only talked to a couple individually and I will talk to them all individually. I think that these types of things are personal, so I think each person is going to take it differently than the next. I don't want to say it went great because I don't know. I think anytime something like this happens there's going to be some hurt feelings. That's just normal.”

As for who the players' next coach will be, Ross said “the search is underway.”

Based on Forbes’ résumé, filling his shoes will be no easy task.

Along with finishing with a .912 winning percentage in Niceville, Forbes’ teams went 22-2 in conference play, never lost at home, and hit that 30-win mark twice en route to two NJCAA championship appearances.

“Very few coaches can step into a good situation and make it great,” Ross said. “Steve Forbes did that for us. To win two conference championships, to go 62-6 and lose only six games in two years, to have us ranked No. 1 in several polls and in the top-10 consistently, to take us to two national championships, what more can you do? It really is remarkable. This college will be forever indebted to his service to our athletic program and men’s basketball program.”

Wichita State will be the sixth Division 1 destination for Forbes, who prior to coming to Niceville spent five years as an assistant under Bruce Pearl at Tennessee, where he helped lead the Volunteers to three Sweet Sixteen appearances and the program's first-ever Elite Eight in 2010.

Before then, he assisted at Texas A&M under Billy Gillespie from 2004-2006 and helped the Aggies go from 7-21 in 2003-2004 to a 21-win team a year later. Prior to his time in College Station, Forbes assisted at the University of Idaho (1998-2000), Louisiana Tech (2000-03) and Illinois State (03-04) at the Division I level. In all five of his Division 1 stops, he held the title of recruiting coordinator, a position he used to help vault the Raiders to national prominence over the last two seasons.

That talent was represented by five NWF State players transferring to Division 1 colleges this offseason, along with the stout recruiting class he and his coaching staff brought in this season to defend the Raiders’ Panhandle Conference crown.

One of the former star recruits includes All-American Chris Jones, a Louisville transfer that became the face of the Raiders the last two seasons alongside Forbes.

Forbes began his coaching career at the junior-college level at Southwestern (Iowa) Community College after graduating from Southern Arkansas in 1988. After two years as an assistant at Southwestern, he took over as head coach for two more years. He then assisted at Barton County (Kan.) Community College from 1993-95 before taking over as head coach from 1995-98.

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NICEVILLE — When it came time to make a decision on where he'd coach next year, Steve Forbes weighed all the options.

He thought about his family. He thought about his players. He thought about his coaching staff. No stone was left unturned. This was not a decision Forbes took lightly.

While many fans assumed Forbes would parlay back-to-back NJCAA national title trips into a bigger job, a better job, he never looked at Niceville as a means to a Division 1 end. And ultimately, the decision to leave NWF State for an assistant coaching job at Wichita State was not easy.

“I didn't come here thinking a year from now or two years from now or three years from now I'd be back in Division 1,” said Forbes, who in joining the coaching staff at Wichita State University will now be within driving distance of his retired parents. “I knew if the right opportunity presented itself, I'd have to make a tough decision.”

The Shockers, of course, presented that tough decision, which ultimately he couldn't turn down. A Final Four participant last year, Greg Marshall's staff was the right opportunity.

“It was just a great fit for me and getting a chance to work for one of the best coaches in college basketball for a program that just went to the Final Four, that's a hard thing to turn down."

Forbes, who led the Raiders to a 62-6 record and two Panhandle Conference championships during his two-year tenure in Niceville, announced Monday that after a couple of weeks of ongoing conversation with Marshall, he had accepted an assistant coaching role with the Shockers. Forbes, who will head to Wichita State Thursday to make it official, will immediately hit the recruiting trail next week.

“Our college is extremely happy for Steve and his family,” NWF State Athletic Director Ramsey Ross said. “There’s no doubt Steve belongs in Division 1 and Wichita State is getting a tremendous coach and an even better person.”

More than getting back to the Division 1 ranks, Forbes said the decision hinged on both the coaching staff at Wichita State along with the needs of his family.

“I also have a very close and personal relationship with Chris Jans, who is the associate head coach. We grew up together and then there’s (assistant coach) Greg Heiar, who like us is from Iowa. Chris and Greg also used to be head coaches at Chipola, so we just have a long, personal relationship. So through that two-week time frame in talking about it and going back and forth, my wife and I came to the conclusion that this is best for our family.”

Even so, that didn't make breaking the news to his players, who Forbes gathered around 12:45 p.m. Monday, any easier.

“I think they're a little shell-shocked,” Forbes said. “They obviously didn't see this coming. I've talked to them as a team, but I've only talked to a couple individually and I will talk to them all individually. I think that these types of things are personal, so I think each person is going to take it differently than the next. I don't want to say it went great because I don't know. I think anytime something like this happens there's going to be some hurt feelings. That's just normal.”

As for who the players' next coach will be, Ross said “the search is underway.”

Based on Forbes’ résumé, filling his shoes will be no easy task.

Along with finishing with a .912 winning percentage in Niceville, Forbes’ teams went 22-2 in conference play, never lost at home, and hit that 30-win mark twice en route to two NJCAA championship appearances.

“Very few coaches can step into a good situation and make it great,” Ross said. “Steve Forbes did that for us. To win two conference championships, to go 62-6 and lose only six games in two years, to have us ranked No. 1 in several polls and in the top-10 consistently, to take us to two national championships, what more can you do? It really is remarkable. This college will be forever indebted to his service to our athletic program and men’s basketball program.”

Wichita State will be the sixth Division 1 destination for Forbes, who prior to coming to Niceville spent five years as an assistant under Bruce Pearl at Tennessee, where he helped lead the Volunteers to three Sweet Sixteen appearances and the program's first-ever Elite Eight in 2010.

Before then, he assisted at Texas A&M under Billy Gillespie from 2004-2006 and helped the Aggies go from 7-21 in 2003-2004 to a 21-win team a year later. Prior to his time in College Station, Forbes assisted at the University of Idaho (1998-2000), Louisiana Tech (2000-03) and Illinois State (03-04) at the Division I level. In all five of his Division 1 stops, he held the title of recruiting coordinator, a position he used to help vault the Raiders to national prominence over the last two seasons.

That talent was represented by five NWF State players transferring to Division 1 colleges this offseason, along with the stout recruiting class he and his coaching staff brought in this season to defend the Raiders’ Panhandle Conference crown.

One of the former star recruits includes All-American Chris Jones, a Louisville transfer that became the face of the Raiders the last two seasons alongside Forbes.

Forbes began his coaching career at the junior-college level at Southwestern (Iowa) Community College after graduating from Southern Arkansas in 1988. After two years as an assistant at Southwestern, he took over as head coach for two more years. He then assisted at Barton County (Kan.) Community College from 1993-95 before taking over as head coach from 1995-98.